Colchester NHS staff conquer famous Three Peaks Challenge

Jess Croughton, Cheryl Piling and Imogen Witt tackled the 24 mile trek through the Yorkshire Dales, scaling the peaks of Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society.

Jess, of Colchester, and Cheryl, of Manningtree, are both mental health nurses with the Essex Partnership University Trust, working at Colchester Hospital and the Lakes Hospital, whilst Imogen, who lives in Stoke by Nayland, is a pharmacy technician at a Colchester GP surgery.

Naming themselves Team Babybel because of their shared love of cheese, the best friends completed the challenge on Saturday.

Jess, who works with dementia patients, said: “We all met through work because Imogen also used to work for the same trust.

“We all have dogs and we meet up regularly for walks together in different parts of Essex. We got the idea of doing something for charity.

“I think with the cuts the NHS has had over the years we can’t quite offer the level of support to people in the community as we would like. We have to rely on the charity for some services.

“I expect the charity is struggling financially due to coronavirus so it felt like the right thing to do.”

The 24-mile trek saw the trio reach heights of 2,400 ft, tackling some of the most difficult terrain in Britain.

They also faced sub zero temperatures, gale force winds and the traditional British autumn rain.

Jess said: “Going dog walking was our training but Essex is not very hilly so it was a bit different to the real thing.

“It was great fun all three of us were supporting each other on the way up. But it was also hard work.

“Ingleborough was the most difficult, not only because of the steep inclines coming up and down, but also due to the rain, gale force winds and wind chill factor of -5 which met us at the peak.

“Whernside was less tricky because although it was the highest, the inclines were more gradual and as we descended the other side the sun came out and the scenery was just stunning.

“Sadly, I did not manage to make it to Pen-y-ghent due to an injury so I only achieved two peaks and 18 miles.

“But Cheryl and Imogen soldiered on to the final peak and finished the challenge.

“Cheryl and Imogen said the descent from Pen-y-ghent was very steep and at times they were coming down on their bottoms because of the gale force winds and the slippy mud under foot due to the rain.”

The friends have so far raised £1,500 for Alzheimer’s UK, smashing their original £900 target.

“It is still slowly climbing which is just amazing.

Jess added: “You will probably be wondering why we called ourselves Team Babybel.

“Well, as well as our mutual love of dogs we also share a mutual love of cheese. And we always follow a dog walk with an evening of cheese and wine.”

Donate at justgiving.com/teams/teambabybel.

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